A large billboard was brought down by a storm yesterday crushing a man to death.

Steel structure crushes man to death; large tree kills woman and injures child

Wild weather wreaked havoc across the country yesterday, causing at least two deaths and a huge amount of damage.

In Samut Prakan, a large billboard was blown over by heavy rain and violent gusts of wind. Two motorcycle-taxi drivers were buried under the structure. One of them, Chalard Kaewwong, died at the scene while the other, Pongsan Ratchajaroen survived with injuries.

Many vehicles were damaged in the same incident.

In Bangkok, the violent storm uprooted many large trees. One fell and killed a woman and injured a child. Fallen trees also damaged at least three vehicles on Bangkok roads. At press time, traffic at Siam Paragon area was at a standstill.

Elsewhere

In the eastern province of Chachoengsao lightning struck a house which then caught fire. Fortunately, there was no report of casualties. In the central province of Lop Buri, the storm was powerful enough to bring down 60 electricity poles, which damaged more than 10 vehicles.

The devastating impact from the storms were also felt elsewhere.

In the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima, a huge signal transmitter of Channel 3 television station collapsed, causing about Bt20-million damage, while killing two oxen.

In the North, a storm ravaged more than 1,000 houses in Lamphun and some 200 others in Phitsanulok on Tuesday night.